Is the End of the PC Market Closer Than We Think?

Worldwide PC shipments dropped 4.9% in the fourth quarter pointing to a structural shift rather than just a weak economy, according to new data from technology research firm Gartner Inc.

“Tablets have dramatically changed the device landscape for PCs, not so much by ‘cannibalizing’ PC sales, but by causing PC users to shift consumption to tablets rather than replacing older PCs,” said Mikako Kitagawa, principal analyst at Gartner. “Whereas as once we imagined a world in which individual users would have both a PC and a tablet as personal devices, we increasingly suspect that most individuals will shift consumption activity to a personal tablet, and perform creative and administrative tasks on a shared PC.”

Gartner said that during the recent holiday season, consumers no longer viewed PCs as the number one gift item and the launch of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows 8 didn’t have a significant impact on PC shipments in the fourth quarter.

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